Australia detains Indonesian asylum seekers<\/p>\n
Rod McGuirk, Associated Press\/Canberra<\/p>\n
Seven Indonesians who became the first asylum seekers to reach
\nAustralia by boat in more than two years have been sent to a
\ndetention camp on an island near Indonesia, a government official
\nsaid on Monday.<\/p>\n
The four men, one woman and two infants who say they are from
\nWest Timor arrived in a small fishing boat on the remote
\nnorthwest coast of Australia on Nov. 5 and asked locals for
\ndirections to the nearest city.<\/p>\n
Authorities took them to the northern city of Darwin then flew
\nthem to Christmas Island, an Australian territory in the Indian
\nOcean 500 kilometers south of Jakarta, last week after they asked
\nfor permission to stay as refugees, immigration department
\nspokesman Phil Allan said.<\/p>\n
"They were transferred to Christmas Island .... last Thursday
\nwhile their claims for protection are assessed," Allan said.<\/p>\n
Allan said the children would be released with their parents
\nto homes on the island within two weeks while the three single
\nmen in the group would remain in the detention center while their
\nrefugee claims are assessed. The government has a policy of
\nremoving children from detention camps.<\/p>\n
The Christmas Island camp had been closed since July when the
\nlast of a group of Vietnamese asylum seekers left.<\/p>\n
A fishing boat carrying 27 men, 17 women and nine children
\nfrom Vietnam that arrived in July 2003 was the last boatload of
\nasylum seekers to reach Australia.<\/p>\n
Van Hoa Nguyen -- a Vietnamese-born Australian citizen -- was
\nsentenced in May last year in the west coast city of Perth to
\nfive years' imprisonment for organizing their trip to flee
\npersecution under Vietnam's communist regime.<\/p>\n
The government initially rejected the Vietnamese claims for
\nasylum, but they appealed and all succeeded in gaining refugee
\nvisas in June and July, Allan said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/australia-detains-indonesian-asylum-seekers-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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